Serious Anxiety after Adopting Bunny

[DMJK]

Hello we just adopted a 4-year old male lopeared bunny who is completely adorable. We did all the right things…visited the shelter several times, let my daughter spend some time with him in an exercise pen, got a good setup with cage he can use for sleeping/litter attached to an exercise pen so he has room when no one is home. Eventually we want to let him roam on our main floor, but need to do some rabbit proofing first!

We came home with him Sunday…and today is Wednesday and I’m  the midst of having constant panic and anxiety attacks. I keep thinking “what happens if he gets outs”, “what if we don’t spend enough time with him”, “what happens when we need to go away”. I have literally not slept and hardly ate since we got him, and I burst into tears at the drop of a hat. My daughter is devastated that I’m this way…she loves him to death and thinks that I want to send him back.

Is it normal to feel this way? I’m torn with guilt so not sure what to do!

[toki]

This makes me a bit teary-eyed, as I can relate to this type of anxiety. (I adopted a dog a few months ago and I had to stay awake all night to watch him, I had no time to eat, and was constantly in tears.) The best thing I can recommend for you is practical reassurance. And what I mean by that is, learn everything you don’t already know about rabbit care. The more of a rabbit expert you become, the more confident of an owner you will be! That way you will know you are doing things right, and that the bunny is having a good life with you. Don’t sweat it; try to enjoy having this little furry friend in your life. So far you seem to have done very well and made all the right choices.

Regarding your questions, research (or ask here on the forums!) how to secure your rabbit’s area so that he does not escape. Learn how much time and interaction he may need. When you need to go away, look at local boarding places that house rabbits, or arrange a rabbit sitter or friend to look after him. You will probably not do everything perfectly, especially at the start, but with time and reassurance you will gain confidence that you are correctly looking after your adorable ball of fluff.

[Muchelle]

It’s normal to have a certain degree of anxiety, but do not let it get the best of you. Get him a nice wide cage+pen to keep him in when no one is around (= no anxiety about him injuring himself or ruining things) and write down a schedule to keep track of feeding times, cleaning times, free roam times, etc. You’ll soon set up a routine for him and for the family and it will all become natural and normal.

How much time you spend with him is not relevant if it’s quality time. There’s been a period where I worked 10+ hours and had to leave the bun alone, but he was more than happy to spend with me those 3-4 hours at night!
Relax and be with us for your questions and doubts we’re glad to help.

[Mikey]

Are you getting help for your anxiety (medication or therapy)? If not, I would start there. A little anxiety is normal, but anxiety that causes you not to eat or sleep needs professional help.

Once your anxiety is under your control, work on fixes to the worries you have. Dont be afraid to post here asking for advice or ideas; thats what this forum is for! Bunny proof what you can, in case he gets out of his pen. If he looks happy, then he is happy and theres no need to change your routine with him. Set up a plan ! and plan B for when you go away (have a list of people you trust who can watch over him, google bunny daycares in your area and note down their info, and have a typed list of his daily routine regarding exercise, food, water, ect so you can print it for whoever watches him while youre gone).

[vanessa]

It sounds like the thought of things getting out of control is causing you anxiety. I’d make a list, like Mikey suggested, but not only for when you are away – for every day – for yourself. List what you want to do and when. I love lists. They help me focus on the task at hand, and when I go away, I know that the list is being followed by someone else. Once you are used to following the list, it may be easier to let go of some of the anxiety. It will give you time to get to know your bunny, and your bunny’s level of happiness. I’m not saying this is the fix it for all anxiety, but it helps me when I feel overwhelmed. I just look at my list, put one foot in front of the other, and keep plodding through it, knowing that I am doing the best that I can. When I feel overwhelmed, I rewrite the list. Change things out, come up with different methods, etc. It almost gives me something else to focus on other than fear of failing my responsibilities – I’m focusing on managing a list. Not on failure. If I find myself having too many anxious thoughts – I just go back to that list and redirect my focus.

[Malia]

I had a lot of anxiety with my new bunny too! Not to that degree but it was really bothering me. What helped me honestly was getting a nanny cam. I could watch him at work. Then I knew he wasn’t dead! (And you’ll know that he didn’t get out). Also, going to the vet… they can tell you that bunny is healthy or whatever. And establishing that connection can help. Plus posting here! Now my bunny Jett has chewed through the cord of the nanny cam so it’s temporarily out of service, lol but… I feel better so I don’t need to rely on it as much. However, I just think he’s cute to look at anytime I want so I’ll still use it once I get it fixed, haha.

[DMJK]

Thanks for the input everyone! I am going to call my doctor today to see if there is something else underlining this anxiety!

Any advice/input on our set up would be great…we have a big cage with his litter pan and we have zip tied an exercise pen to it. We leave the cage door open so he can hop in and out to use the litter pan or to dig and sleep. The pen gives him a 4’x4′ “front yard” to his cage. The pen is 2 feet tall. It is in the living room so he’s there when we are home, watching TV etc. We have let him out for short breaks to hop around the house…he does it for maybe 15-20 minutes then heads back to his pen.

I guess my anxiety also comes from our drastically our lives will change. We do like to travel (usually go on one week trips 2-3 times a year) or we go away for some long weekends in the summer. I keep thinking how are we going to have him cared for while we are gone? Do we have family come over twice a day? Do we take his cage and play pen to someone’s house?

All this is running through my brain 24-7 and it is taking a toll. Talking about it helps though!

[Luna]

If you already have a family member in mind that you would rely on to look after him while you are traveling, I would start inviting that family member over to meet your bun and learn about buns in general. That way, when the time comes, you will feel more comfortable leaving him in someone else’s care.

[vanessa]

His setup sounds good. My bunny Guinevere also hops back to her area after a brief run through the house.

I travel about 6-8 times a year. Between 3-10 days each trip. I pay a young lady who lives a few houses down to care for my animals while I’m gone. If my boyfriend is home and I’m on travel alone, then he cares for them. If we are both gone, I pay this young lady. She has been looking after my pets for me for 4 years. At first, I watched on the wireless camera to make sure everything was going alright. Now – I don’t feel the need to watch on the camera anymore. I write up a very detailed list for her. It goes something like this:
AM dogs – 1 scoop pellets each, water, play. Rabbits – 1 scoop pellets per rabbit, 1 prepackaged (by me) bag veggies, pick up stray poops, change water, top up hay. Turaco – 1 prepackaged (by me) large bowl fruit. Mousebird – 1 prepackaged small bowl fruit. Seed birds – change water. (They have a large seed hopper). PM – same as AM. Mon/Wed/Fri change litter boxes. Get the idea?
And I go into detail on which litter box gets how many scoops of wood pellets, and if I have time, I prepackage hay. I leave trash bags out, paper towels, wetwipes, and a broom/dust pan. Everything that I would do – I list it for her. I’v gotten used to how she handles lists – she underlines the direction to separate it from the comments. Like while Lancelot was in the room with Guin, I wrote – pick up Lancelot and put him in front of his salad plate. Put the plate on the same spot each day because he is deaf and blind. She underlined the words “pick up Lancelot and put him in front of the plate”. So now, I separate the instructions in columns. 1st column is the instruction, 2nd column is any applicable notes.
I’m always confident that as long as I put it on the instruction page, it will be done, and my animals will be fine while I’m away.
I would have someone come over twice a day. Moving his cage to someone’s house while you are away would be stressful for him.

[Author]

Messages